In their zeroth head-to-head meeting of the regular season, the New York Islanders and the Washington Capitals clash at Capital One Arena in a Metro Division tilt. NBC Sports Washington will broadcast the matchup, which gets going at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday, November 2.
New York Islanders at Washington Capitals Odds
New York (+135) is entering this one as the underdog to Washington (-155) and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at 6 goals (-130 for the over, +110 for the under).
New York is 7-5 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 1.9 units this season. Through 12 regular season outings, seven of its games have gone over the total, while five have gone under and none have pushed. This 2017-18 Islanders team is 3-4 SU on the road.
New York has found the net on 16.3 percent of its power play chances so far. That mark hasn’t moved a lot from last year, when it was ranked 28th in the league by converting on 15.0 percent of its extra-man chances. Its penalty kill has fallen off noticeably year-over-year, as the team’s gone from successfully defending 81.9 percent of all opponent power plays (ranked 10th overall last season) to 77.5 percent this year.
For the team as a whole, New York has been penalized just 3.8 times per game this season, a number that is up a bit from the 3.4 penalties per game given up last year. The team served an average of 7.9 penalty minutes per game last year and is right around that same amount this season.
Averaging 27.1 saves per game with a .916 save percentage, Jaroslav Halak (5-3) has been the top option in goal for New York this season. If head coach Doug Weight chooses to rest him, however, New York might turn to Thomas Greiss (2-3-1 record, .898 save percentage, 3.69 goals against average).
John Tavares and Josh Bailey will both look to continue their strong seasons for the visiting Islanders. Tavares has 15 points on 11 goals and four assists, and has recorded multiple points in four different games. Bailey has three goals and 11 assists to his name (and has registered at least one point in seven games).
Over on the other bench, Washington is 5-7 straight up (SU) and has lost 3.3 units for moneyline bettors thus far. Through 12 regular season outings, eight of its games have gone over the total, while four have gone under and none have pushed. It’s 1-3 SU at home this season.
Washington has converted on 21.6 percent of its power play chances this season, a mark that places it in the top-10 among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 27th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 76.5 percent of all opponent power plays.
Washington skaters have been called for penalties 5.2 times per game this season. Last year, that number was at 4.1, the eighth-worst mark in the league. After serving an average of 9.3 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team’s been forced to kill penalties for a taxing 13.1 minutes per outing this season.
Braden Holtby (29.6 saves per game) has been the top netminder in goal for Washington. Holtby has five wins and three losses to his name and has recorded a .919 save percentage and 2.75 goals against average this year.
Evgeny Kuznetsov (three goals, 12 assists) and Alex Ovechkin (10 goals, five assists) will pace the attack for the Caps.
New York Islanders at Washington Capitals Betting Predictions
Predictions: SU Winner – Capitals, O/U – Under
Betting Notes:
- The over has hit in three of Washington’s last five games.
- The Capitals are 3-5 SU in games where they serve more penalty minutes than their opponent while the Islanders are 2-2 SU when they spend more time in the box than the opposition.
- Washington ranked fourth last year with 8.0 takeaways per game, but the team appears to be applying less pressure on opposing offenses to begin this season. It’s currently ranked 26th through 12 games with 5.8 takeaways per contest.
